[RELEASE] Shadow Genesis: 2017 Edition

23 years after the Capellan massacre the Humankind and Vasudankind are stronger than at any time before. With the belief in our invincibility and powerful warships on our orders, we rebuilt what we had lost fighting against the Shivans. It is said that we are ready to confront the Destroyers again. But if it is not true, we are going to pay a terrible price...- Arthur Gordon, the Secretary-General of the GTVA Security Council

They regard me as a traitor. They call me a terrorist, a madman. They want me dead and they will not stop until they hunt me down... But they do not know my real power. I have the key to the Ancient legacy. I can save the human- and vasudankind from the Shivans and show it the new path to glory. And I will do it. At any cost.- Kaimler Ovadiah, head scientist of Cerberus Legacy, wanted in all Terran-Vasudan systems for treason, terrorism, blackmailing and genetic experiments.

The Cerberus Legacy slowly but constantly destroys the GTVA just like a cancer. They attack from the shadow, strike in our weakest points and withdraw before we can react. Blackmailing, terrorism, kidnapping are their methods. They are responsible for numerous outrages across the GTVA. Unless we hunt them down, the Alliance won’t be safe.- Supreme Admiral John Peters, commander of the Wolf's Fleet

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Shadow Genesis: 2017 Edition is a rework of old and known mod, released in 2013 and improved since than. We decided to rework our old project before release of first act of Exile, fix all the bugs [I hoped so!], improve majority of missions, storytelling, models, graphics and stuff. Also We wanted to make it working with newest release of FSO and MediaVPs. With a majority of missions reworked, we want to introduce up-to-date and top quality campaign. Those who like it have perfect opportunity to experiance SG again with updated visuals, in age of 3.8.0. Those who dislike it are strongly encouraged to give Shadow Genesis a second, well deserved chance .

No more crashes, no more badly balanced missions, no more patches [I also hoped so!] and stupid installation instructions... No more old SG .

Features:- More than 40 action-packed missions. The campaign consists of a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. Huge-scale battles, numerous cutscenes, space fights and planetary missions. - Epic, complex and unique storyline. As lieutenant Nathan Miles join the elite 6th Terran Fleet known as the Wolf's Fleet, autonomical unit of the Alliance navy responsible for safety of strategic sector of Terran space known as the Wolf's Group. Explore entirely new planetary systems, discover sinister plot of Cerberus Legacy, meet new, complex characters, witness epic unforgettable moments and unexpected twists in a story about treason, madness, hatred, honour and sacrifice.- New enemies. Confront an entirely new opponent that is threatening safety of the Alliance. Powerful terrorist organization known as Cerberus Legacy openly challenges the Terran-Vasudan authorities and its charismatic and enigmatic leader, Kaimler Ovadiah, will not stop from anything to execute his mysterious plan. As a pilot of the Wolf's Fleet you will do whatever it takes to protect those in need but you don't expect that Cerberus plot is only a prelude to a Nightmare greater than you could ever imagine...- Great battles and tactical missions. Forget about deploying warships to battle and praying them to survive. Forget bombers attacking you wing after wing. Shadow Genesis raises an art of space warfare to a level you did not experience before. Now both you and the enemy are ready for any tactics that may lead to victory. Big guns and powerful warships are now just a part of strategy. Be ready to confront Cerberus infiltrators that will disarm GTVA warships using anti-subsystem torpedos, eliminate wings of strikers before they smash your cruisers into pieces with Maxim cannon and avoid snipers swarming you with Trebs. Every trick on the field of battle is now an element of a greater strategy. - New technologies. Unleash new deadly arsenal of the GTVA. A new generation of Terran warships, Anchorage-class superdestroyers, artillery frigattes, tactical carriers, space and planetary gunships, an entirely new set of primary and secondary weapons, increased role of disarming warships, sniper weaponry, auto-repair modules and much more. - Breathtaking audio and visuals. New unique ships models and many refreshed older ones. New effects created by talented artists. Atmosphere built by new soundtrack from great games, movies and other sources. - Many innovations of the newest SCP engine implemented. Checkpoint system based on the War in Heaven one, 32 achievements to gain completing secondary and hidden goals, saving allied warships or keeping their hull above certain level, extended directive and monitoring lists, hotkeys, zoom system, nanojumps and much more.

***

Requirements:- Freespace Open 3.7.4 Official is recommended. Newer builds should work, but some issues were reported. - MediaVPs 2014- Decent Computer

1. SG06 - DEFENDER OF THE BETRAYED - Meleager's hull cannot fall below 30% in "Game of Pretences"2. SG07 - ALPHA TEAM READY - Do not lose any marine transports before they dock in "Nexus"3. SG08 - F***IN' INFILTRATORS - Prevent Meleager from losing main beams in "Ambushers from the Shadow"4. SG08 - SECURING THE NODE - Lateralus and Endymion cannot leave the battle after suffering heavy damage5. SG10 - DEATH TO A TRAITOR - Don't let captain O'Hara escape the blockade in "Dragon's Entry"6. SG08,SG11 - TRANSPORT HUNTER - Destroy or force to surrender Cerberus convoys in "Ambushers from the Shadow" and "Devil's Plain"7. SG12 - AGGRESSIVE NEGOTIATIONS - Prevent pirates from taking the ransom in "Art of Negotiations"8. SG13 - CROSS-FIRED - Save Thames, Vanguard and Deventer in fight with Cerberus in "Seek and destroy"9. SG13 - ALLIES IN NEED - Save Actium and Orpheus from Adventurer and strikers in "Seek and destroy"10. SG14 - MULTI-TASKING - Destroy Cerberus shuttles and save hostages in "When lives are at stake"11. SG17 - FUNERAL DELAYED - Save at least two Wolf's Fleet cruisers in battle with the rebel fleet in "Funeral autumn"12. SG17 - A FAREWELL GIFT FOR OVADIAH - Destroy Dionisus in "Funeral autumn"13. SG19 - DEFENDER OF WESTERPLATTE - Isonomia, Echion and Aquila must remain on the battlefield until the evacuation is completed in "Westerplatte"14. SG21 - INNOCENTS FROM TAU ENIGMA - Save all ships of the civilian convoy in "Through back door"15. SG22 - DRAYMAN'S PRIDE - Nexus must have more than 60% when the Hiven arrives in "An Dante"16. SG26 - EXPLORATOR - Scan all Ancient derelicts in "Silent Hunters"17. SG27 - THE FINAL STRAIGHT - Escort Stalker to Spica with hull at min. 35% in "Long road home"18. SG28 - WHO WILL RESCUE THE RESCUERS? - All five warships must survive the battle in "Helpful hand"19. SG29 - NOONE GETS LEFT BEHIND - Find and pick up all survivors in "Beyond the frontline"20. SG31 - SUCCESSFUL EVAC - Defend 90% of civilian vessels until Ethereal's arrival in "...are today's recruits"21. SG31 - JUST A TACTICAL RETREAT - Defend 90% of retreating warships until Ethereal's arrival in "...are today's recruits"22. SG31 - BLOCKADE MUST HOLD - Don't lose more than two ships on the blockade (Neya, Wellington, Taygete, Aphaea, Neptune Installation) in "...are today's recruits"23. SG33 - BETTER THAN RAYNOR - Nirvana must hold the Nightmares on the blockade until Hiven's arrival and leave the battle with hull at least 30% in "Enemy at the gates"24. SG34 - ANCIENT LEGACY - Save at least 3 Ancient derelicts in "Under siege"25. SG36 - TOWER DEFENCE - In the end all towers must have at least 40% in "A world in flames"26. SG37 - MINIMAL CASULTIES - Don't lose more than one allied warship (excluding Neya) in "Burning sky over Aeon XII"27. SG38 - NO DELAY - Make all nanojumps quickly enough to prevent additional hostiles from attacking the frigattes in "Hunt begun"28. SG39 - HARVESTERS AT WORK - Nexus and Argus must have min. 50% at the end of "Harvest"29. SG40 - STINGING THE BEAST - Destroy all Hiven's primary and secondary beams in "Game in a trap"30. SG40 - A ****IN' BIG GUN - Destroy Hiven's main beam in "Game in a trap"31. SG41 - A BIG DELIVERY - Save all Euryale bombers in "Dies Irae"32. SG41 - THE FINAL ASSAULT - Merdarion and Impaler must survive the battle with hull above 50% in "Dies Irae"

Changelog:

Spoiler:

MISSIONS: - Fixed bug with SOC extra missions after act III not unlocking despite having 20 achievements- Achievement system reworked on ship save/load script so that you can unlock achievements replaying missions in a mission simulator and see your progress when replaying the epilog (SG43)- Icons in several briefings reorganized to look nicer with higher screen resolutions- Longer messages split into parts so they are not cut off- Extra directives and some clues added in several missions- Several longer dialogs moved from command briefing to fiction viewer- SG03: Long and boring thought-it-would-be-better-than-another-command-briefing-dialog cutscene with flying Argo reworked into a standard mission- SG06: rebel fleet attack reorganized, added extra lines for Blanchard- SG11: you can now unlock achievement 'Transport Hunter' by disabling all ships of the convoy (their destruction is no longer required to proceed to second stage of mission)- SG11: you can no longer give orders to Caracas- SG13: fixed bug with Thames battlegroup's state not saved when loading checkpoint 2- SG17: minor mission rebalance, added extra lines for Ovadiah- SG19: minor Nightmare attacks rebalance, more time to snipe Meshulams' beams- SG21: Nightmare raids against the convoy are slightly weaker and with longer inverval- SG27: Stalker's initial distance to the portal shortened from 45 to 32 km- SG28: Yokai fight rebalanced, final Nightmare attack is now much smaller- SG28: you can no longer give orders to Custodian- SG31: Ethereal's battlegroup formation changed- SG33: slightly smaller Nightmare attack waves- SG35int: fixed several inconsistencies in Adraelon's monolog- SG37: huge Nightmare attack reworked into a smaller, more tactical engagement- SG43: final dialog with Grizzly now depends on whether we played extra loop or not (this was in mission before, but it was not working due to bug with extra loop)- SG43: after the final dialog you can now see which achievements you unlocked- Plenty of minor changes in dialogs and cutscenes

MODPACK: - Integration of Axem's message script.- Nephelai's arrival in SG11 and SG41 no longer causes game to crash on newer builds- Remapped Magnus supercarrier- New model for Euryale- Update for Selkie textures- Fixes for numerous small bugfixes in older models like dockpoints of Aeglos.- nightmare briefing icons and some new for other ships- New backgrounds for every system [apophysis skyboxes!]- New hi-res mainhalls and interface- Updated terran fleet- New modimage and preload graphics- AAAb range reduced from 3,5 to 2,5km- AAAb damage reduced from 110 to 50- Penetrator's range reduced from 13,75 to 5,5km (don't ask why)- Penetrator II's range reduced from 17,5 to 8km (don't ask why either)- Slayer PDC's shield factor increased from 2.0 to 2.5

batwota: steele's maneuvering for the coup de grasMatthTheGeek: you mispelled grâceAwaesaar: gracebatwota: oh right Darius: ah!Darius: yes, i like thatMatthTheGeek: the way you just spelled it it means fatAwaesaar: +accent I forgot how to keyboardMatthTheGeek: or greaseDarius: the killing fat!Axem: jabba does the coup de grasMatthTheGeek: XDAxem: bring me solo and a cookie

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

"A weapon is only as powerful as its wielder. With this weapon, you'll be but an annoyance, which would greatly dishonor it. With this weapon, I can change history. With me, this weapon can shape the universe."

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.- Nietzsche

When in despair I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won; there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.- Mahatma Gandhi

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

In light of all these recent releases, that thread complaining HLP was becoming like a ghost town becomes sillier and sillier. Congrats for the release! I know every time a huge project ends, it does feel like giving birth to a child.

I won't have the time to play this, but the OP intrigues me. It also amuses me. The self-congratulation betrays some small immaturity, especially given that the synopsis reveals an "epic" plot that suspiciously seems very derived from FS2's (and Mass Effect's?). Then it kinda goes hilarious when promising on how it "raises an art of space warfare to a level you did not experience before". Really? Because I've experienced some damned good art in here lately from multiple sources of awesomeness that many other modders sweated into existence (no namedrops).

Anyways, you made me very curious, and I guess that's the only real requirement of the synopsis . Here's to ambitious modders!

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

While the story seems sound, the writing itself seems cringe-worthy in more than a few places. If you're going to release a campaign in a language that's not your first, at least get a proofreader. I also seem to be watching cutscenes more than I am shooting things which is, uh, bad. The first cutscene itself isn't too bad except at the end, which is needlessly longer than it has to be. I found myself upping the time compression to get to the end.

Spoiler:

Mission 1 of Act 1 is frustrating. On medium, it's impossible to save a cruiser because the bastards fire their bombs from 3.5km away every 6 seconds. How are we supposed to defend the cruisers against something like that? And in the ship and weapon select screens, I have access to the Hercules Mark 2, Myrmidon, and the Perseus as well as the Persephone, which I have five of available. As for weapons, I have the Morning Star and Akheton SDG in addition to the HL-9 and the Prometheus S, despite being informed I only had access to the latter two. This is all I have because superbombers seem to prevent me from passing Mission 1.

With this said, I will say that everything is well thought out, but the presentation is a little shaky.

To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field of millet, only one grain will grow. - Metrodorus of ChiosI wept. Mysterious forces beyond my ken had reached into my beautiful mission and energized its pilots with inhuman bomb-firing abilities. I could only imagine the GTVA warriors giving a mighty KIAAIIIIIII shout as they worked their triggers, their biceps bulging with sinew after years of Ivan Drago-esque steroid therapy and weight training. - General Battuta

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

Little Boys are pretty weak, and the Aeolus has better anti-fighter and anti bomber defence. Just don't care about bombs and take down the bombers with Hammer HL-9 and Prometheus S. Our turrets and wingmans will do the rest.

We wanted to keep difficulty level on something between WiH: Tenebra and retail FS2 campaign. Something about half of our missions are designed to be "find your way" missions. Test different tactics to get better results. If something will be too hard, we will rebalance it in eventualy patch.

Re: The Shadow is coming... SHADOW GENESIS: RELEASE

Except I've tried different things. The Aeolus doesn't seem to be very effective anyway, as one specific cruiser died every single time by the time I was finishing off the last bomber. So, yes, I've already done everything you've suggested except cheat or be a cheat and go for where they'll be jumping in, which isn't much fun.

To consider the Earth as the only populated world in infinite space is as absurd as to assert that in an entire field of millet, only one grain will grow. - Metrodorus of ChiosI wept. Mysterious forces beyond my ken had reached into my beautiful mission and energized its pilots with inhuman bomb-firing abilities. I could only imagine the GTVA warriors giving a mighty KIAAIIIIIII shout as they worked their triggers, their biceps bulging with sinew after years of Ivan Drago-esque steroid therapy and weight training. - General Battuta